How iMet You
by afictionalreality
Summary: How did the trio of iCarly mold the futures of Gravity 5? Zevie/ Grelson/ Kavin
1. Waking Up in the Future

BEEPBEEPBEEP

Stevie Reyna Baskara moaned slightly and rolled over in her thoroughly slept in bed. She blindly reached out her hand to smack the alarm's snooze button but only ended up hitting over her glasses and a ring in the process. The alarm's incessant beeping suddenly stopped and Stevie opened her eyes to realized another hand beat her to it.

"Wake up, Reyrey," her father said using her old baby pet name and stroking her mixed brunette/blonde hair out of her inarguably lovely face, "it's time to get ready for school." "Bleh," Stevie whined, shutting her eyes. "How are you such a morning person, Fredward?" she asked, using the name her mother used when she was annoyed or teasing her dad.

Her father frowned slightly, then smiled a mischievous smirk and ripped the blankets off his daughter then presumed to gently push the klutzy girl off the bed. "School's important, and you want that 4.0, right?" he teased and he ran out of the room. Stevie just rolled her eyes and gingerly started to get up from the floor.

Stevie quietly sang with the radio as she flipped pancakes on the stove and her dad made coffee beside her a half hour before the high school started up first period. She knew the wafting, homy smell would wake up her night-owl mother, putting a special, extra bacon plate in the microwave for her when she'd wake up. Stevie really did love cooking for her family, she knew what she brought to the table when it came to food and baked goods, plus it was an excellent bribe for when her mother got mad at her.

Freddie handed her daughter a cup of coffee as she heard a rumbling coming from the staircase. "STEVES!" a masculine voice yelled. "ARE YOU MAKING WAFFLES OR PANCAKES?" "PANCAKES!" She yelled back. "DAD MADE COFFEE AND I HAVE BACON!" A whooping sound came from the hall as her four older brothers crowded into the kitchen grabbing plates, bacon, pancakes, coffee, and thanking Stevie and Pops for the meal.

"Oopsie," Stevie whispered as she checked her watch, realizing she could potentially be late for her class. "Gotta go!" She yelled, grabbing her bag from the mass pile of backpacks on the floor and stuffing bacon in her mouth. "Wait!" her oldest brother, Spencer, called out before she left. He grabbed his tiny sister around the waist, threw her over his shoulder making her laugh with delight and spun her around. He then roughly put her down and kissed her forehead. "Thanks for breakfast, Reyrey," he said. The rest of her brothers ran up to her kissing her cheek, forehead, and punching her arm in thanks leaving her hair messy, cheeks flushed, and a smile on her face as she blew a kiss to her dad and rushed out the door.

R&R Please.


	2. A Locker is a Window to the Soul

"STEVIE!" a loud, girly voice sang out from across the hallway, cutting above the preschool noise. Stevie wrote down her schedule for the week on her locker's whiteboard as she turned towards the sound. Kacey skipped over to her best friend, bass player, and the band's Mamabear waving a snapshot in between her perfectly manicured fingers like a handkerchief. "I finally found an acceptable pic of us for your locker!" Kacey practically sang, beaming, handing Stevie the picture.

Stevie put the cap on her whiteboard maker throwing it in her locker and looking down and the picture. It was a very sweet picture, taken at the school dance where Gravity 5 opened with 'Move With the Crowd.' Kacey was hugging Stevie and spinning her around so her black and white dress was flowing and slightly blurred, but both girls were laughing and looking absolutely beautiful.

"Who took this?" Stevie asked. Kevin was busy with his date that night, Nelson was chasing Grace, so who could've taken it? Kacey's head was down as she dug her hand around trying to grab a nail file from her shiny, new designer purse. "Zander took it," she stated. "I stole it from his binder," she winked at Stevie, "now you'll finally have a picture of me in your locker! I gotta run, kay? I wanna meet up with Dean in the parking lot." Kacey gave up her search for the file and grabbed her phone. "I look okay, right?" Kacey turned her head towards Stevie waiting for the final confirmation.

Stevie pushed Kacey's bangs into perfect alignment then smiled and nodded. Kacey kissed her on the cheek and ran off into the crowded hallway on her cellphone, giggling and texting.

Stevie scrunched her nose, smirking and shook her head as she wiped the shiny lipgloss off her cheek. She turned to inspect the inside of the door of her locker. It was covered in comics, songs that she and Zander wrote together, a whiteboard consisting of her weekly schedule, and, Stevie's favorite, individual pictures with all her friends.

There were the pictures with her and the boys on the football, baseball, basketball, and lacrosse team (having four brothers being team captains in all of Brewster High's champion sports teams did have its benefits), snapshots of her with some of the more indie theater kids, but most importantly to Stevie, pictures with Gravity 5. A picture of her with Nelson, tutoring him in American History, the only subject he was bad at. A picture of her swing dancing with Kevin during a Gravity 5 only beach day. Many group shots of them playing football in the park, all taking a nap together during a bonding weekend at Zander's apartment, and many shots during performances.

Stevie taped the picture of herself and Kacey right next to her favorite picture of them all. Taken by one of Stevie's friends on the yearbook staff, it was a shot of Stevie wearing an old, pretty dress of her mothers and a leather jacket with studio headphones around her neck, hair slightly more messy than usual. Her eyebrows a touch scrunched together as she was making a exasperated, yet adorable smile at Zander, who was staring into her eyes, looking dashing and professional in a suit, his hands cupped around her face and hair smiling at her.

She bit her lip as she remembered it as the week she put on the news show, completely over her head. Zander was comforting her, as he always does, telling her if anybody could make a difference, it was her.

Stevie, still lost in the moment of the photograph, was caught completely off guard as somebody inexplicably put their arm around her shoulder kissed her on the cheek and smoothly verbalized a, "What's up, baby?"


	3. The Trio and the Band

She gently nudged Zander's arm off my shoulder and turned to poke her best friend's cheek. "How's the last," Stevie checked her watch, "six hours since I've seen you?"

Zander chucked and tugged a hand through his perfectly messy curls. "Escaping through my window. And the note with the finished lyrics? Nice touch. Did you learn jumping out of a 6 story building from your Mom?"

Stevie laughed and grabbed some books out of her locker, "Yeah, but c'mon! It had a fire escape! No big deal. Plus my Dad would've freaked if he saw how late it was!" Zander made a 'true, true' face. "Also the lyrics weren't that hard. You were talking in your sleep and it sounded good with the next stanza."

Zander's playful, sparkly eyes went wide. "I was talking in my sleep?" he asked, just a touch horrified. Stevie just rolled her green eyes and giggled, "Yeah! You always do and when you fall asleep on my lap, it's kinda hard not to hear you."

Zander peeked in her locker and pointed towards a photo. "Where'd you get that?" he asked, referring to the last locker wall addition. "Kacey stole it because she wanted me to have a pic of her in my locker," Stevie said, rolling her eyes playfully at her friend. "Why did you have a picture of me and Kacey in your binder anyways?"

Suddenly, the tip on Zander's nose and the apple of his cheeks grew a touch pink. "No reason. You're not the only one with pictures of your friends." Stevie slammed her locker door shut, ensuring it was locked, threw her bag over her shoulder and raised her hands defensively. "Just asking, Zacey!" She laughed and ran down the hallway.

She heard a "STOP CALLING ME THAT BASKARA!" and footsteps running after her. She screamed and ran in the direction of the band room, not really caring if she cut her first period class. She felt fingertips on her back and realized Zander was right behind her. She tried to run faster, but instead tripped, causing her forward inertia to fumble them both to the ground, Zander landing right on top of her.

They looked in each other eyes for a beat, after the given moans and complaints about crushed homework and ukuleles, and bust up laughing. They were in the abandoned hallway beside the band room, completely safe from anybody seeing them. "Can you get off me now?" Stevie whined from the concrete. Zander smirked, "After I get my revenge for you thinking I like Kacey."

Stevie's eyes opened in a flash knowing what was coming. "Don't you dar-" she began unable to finish because Zander started to tickle her waist. She laughed, tears forming in her eyes, and tickled Zander in his most ticklish spot, the middle of his waist, effectively getting him off her. She grabbed her book bag and jumped to her feet, surveying her best friend a laughing, crying heap on the floor, and helped him up.

"Your Dad's not going to like you skipping class," Zander commented, flopping on the sofa in the band room. "Well neither is your Mom," Stevie fired back remembering the story her mother told her about how hard it was for the trifecta to get detention because two of the three were such goody-goodies. She flopped on the sofa beside one of her favorite people in the world, putting her head on his leg.

"It's a really good thing they met," Zander mused, playing with Stevie's hair, "huh Reyrey? If they hadn't you wouldn't have been born and we would've never been Alex and Rey growing up." She peered up at him smiling. "It's always going to be Alex and Rey, Zander," she snuggled up with the dinosaur pillow laying next to her. "Always."


	4. Only Friends Only He Knew

DINGDING

Zander woke up suddenly from the sound of a dinging cell phone to find his head resting on Stevie's waist, her head in his lap, and his fingers intwined in her hair. He sat up, gently untangling his hands from her soft, sexy mess of curls.

He felt a strong desire to stay asleep with his best friend but knew what it would look like to the rest of the band who didn't quite understand the complexity of their relationship. But he decided not to wake Reyrey up, she looked way too girly and vulnerable when she was asleep, plus he knew she needed it.

He checked his cellphone to see if he was the culprit, but saw Stevie's was lighting up instead. He grabbed the abused phone from their yellow table and saw 'text from Aunt Carly' flashing. He unlocked the phone and checked the text.

**Aunt Carly:**

**I know you're skipping Chemistry with Zander, just make sure you tutor him tonight then, k? See you later sweetheart.**

Zander never got why his Mom always called everybody 'sweetheart' but he didn't mind. It wasn't like Stevie wasn't family anyways.

Zander had gone to a local private school from the middle of elementary up until he finally made it clear to his parents that he wanted, no NEEDED, to be at the same school as Stevie. She was always in public school without him and he hated being away from his best friend even though they saw each other every day at either of their houses. Zander looked down at the sleeping girl on his lap. She, with her clear green eyes and full, pouty lips was such a closet softy, and only Zander knew that.

He put her phone down and was about to wake he up when he heard her gently moan something in her sleep. He froze and listened intently. "... Z.." Stevie mumbled as she gently shifted, wrapping her arms around Zander's waist.

Zander's heart sped up a bit, and he wasn't entirely sure why. He looked down at that tomboy's face hat he had known forever and wondered why he had butterflies in his stomach. He was getting lost in her hair, her eyes again but heard the bell ring out the end of first period, and knew the band would be there shortly.

He gently stood up, causing her head to drop onto the soft couch and picked her up, walking the still sleeping girl over to he bass amp and plopped her down onto it walking her with a start. She gazed up at him with her sleep, dreamy eyes.

"We skipped class didn't we?"

"Yup."

"Aunt Carly called, didn't she?"

"Texted."

"I look awful, don't I?"

"You always look awful."

Stevie narrowed her now fully awake eyes at him jumped onto the amp and threw a nearby drumstick at him.

"OW!" Zander yelled, rubbing his now bruised peck. "I was kidding!" Stevie just laughed and jumped down as Nelson and Kevin ran into the band room and were asking Stevie questions about some video game her Dad helped create at the speed of light.

Zander chuckled good naturedly and walked across the room to grab his guitar. _No_, he though, _she didn't look awful._ He turned to glance at her again and saw her laughing with the boys and playfully swatting Nelson._ If only she knew how those dreamy green eyes and sexy messy curls looked to him_. He threw the guitar strap over his shoulder and saw her flip her hair to the music she was playing, helping Kevin get the beat and shook his head, getting her face, warmth, and smell out of his mind. _If only she knew._


	5. Purple PostIts and Diet Sodas

Stevie sat on the Gravity 5 table in the courtyard cross-legged and studied her Chemistry book while waiting for Kevin to get her a soda. She knew by her constantly skipping first period to nap, talk, play music, or study with Zander, her grade might drop. She had her father's drive for school work, most people besides Gravity 5 didn't know that she had a higher GPA than Nelson, he just had the crazy ideas.

She sat, tilting her head back and feeling the sun on her tanned face, until she noticed Justin Cole looking at her from across the courtyard. They locked eyes and she looked back down to her book, biting her lip. There was no denying that he was gorgeous, but she didn't feel the need to focus on a relationship, no matter how hot he was.

"Steviekiiiiiiiiiiins!" Kacey's voice rang out from the top of the staircase. Stevie didn't even have to look over her shoulder to know her beautiful friend was running her way. "What's up, doll?" Stevie asked her textbook, directing it at Kacey.

Kacey grabbed her book and tore it from her lap, shutting it and throwing it onto the table. She put her hands on the table, her face inches from Stevie's.

"I. Am. MAKING YOU. Come. To. The. Mall. Today," She stated, a smile making it's way across her face. Stevie just rolled her eyes, got off the table and sat on the bench, Kacey scooching closer to her, putting her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands.

"I don't have a say, do I?"

"Nope."

"Why today?"

"Because of the gig on Friday night. It's already Wednesday."

"Can't we jus-"

"No."

"But I really don't want t-"

"No."

"Kaceeeeeeeeeee-"

"Who wants their sooooda?"

The girls whipped their heads around and saw Kevin awkwardly holding three soda bottles. Stevie quickly jumped up and helped him put them on the table while Kacey scrunched her hair. Stevie cleared her throat at Kacey, nudging the only diet soda her way. Kacey stood up and addressed Kevin.

"I didn't ask for one. I don't drink soda, plus only Stevie was at the table."

"I know," Kevin said cooly. "I got us ours then saw you sitting here and grabbed another one for you." Kevin's usually friendly confidence staggered at the end of the sentence making his voice a little squeaky. Stevie looked from the soda, to Kevin, to the soda, to Kacey, and back to Kevin. As the tension got thicker and thicker Kevin suddenly grabbed his bag, kissed the top of Stevie's head (cheek would have been to hard, since she was so much shorter than him) and fumbled away. Kacey's face suddenly dropped.

"Wait!" Kacey gently yelled after him. "Thank you!" She sighed and looked at Stevie who had her hands on her hips.

"He didn't have to do that," she reminded her. "That was really sweet of him." Kacey gingerly took her purse and soda off the table. "You're right, I know you're right," she mumbled, starting to walk away.

"He's our little brother, Kace! Can't be so tough on him all the time!" Stevie called out after her, but then she noticed something. Kacey turned back, a small smile on her face and said, "Yeah. Little brother. See you after school, Steves." She smiled a little wider, shook her head then looked down turning away from Stevie. Stevie got what was going on immediately.

_She better not break his heart_, she thought, gathering her things. She noticed a small purple Post-It on her binder, a special thing between her and Zander, putting Post-Its on each other's things with their signature color. The trio used to do it also with blue, white, and brown. How her mother found brown Post-Its will always be an enigma to Stevie. She plucked the note from its delicate sticky hold on the binder and read:

_Skip PE with me and let's go to the ice cream place Uncle Spence told us about. If you do not come, I'll light all those clothes you have at my place on fire.  
C'mon Reyrey, it's only PE ;)_


	6. Nobody REALLY Knows Her

Zander sat on the stairs outside of the bathrooms on the outer end of the school, eating an apple he... borrowed from the cafeteria, strumming some chords on his ukulele, and waiting for Stevie to join him. They always met on this staircase when they wanted to get off campus, because the back gate was never monitored. Zander spread his legs out, crossing them at the ankles and subconsciously played the opening instrumental for Last 1 Standing.

"I'll pick you up, just count on me every time.." Zander quietly sang, memories flooding into his mind. What the rest of Gravity 5 didn't know was that Last 1 Standing was the aftermath of a huge fight that Zander and Stevie had. They had screamed, yelled, thrown things, broke a couple of items, shoved each other and said things that definitely should not have been said, a lot of which involved Justin Cole and Kacey as ammunition against each other.

Stevie had finally stormed out of his penthouse, climbing out the window onto the fire escape, ignoring all of Zander's yelling to get back in the apartment. He jumped out, grabbing her wrist to turn her around, facing him, their faces inches away from each other's and he saw the tears flooding and heartbreak clouding her clear, green, once sparkly eyes. _I don't want you near me_, was what she whispered before she climbed down the fire escape and ran into the alley, disappearing into the dark, palpable night.

That night Zander didn't sleep. Stevie had never said anything like that to him. They both had tempers, they had fought before, and they both were pretty even when they started to disagree, but he had never made her cry before. He had seen her cry, out of pain, laughter, loneliness, but never by his own words. He showed up at her house two hours later to see her in nothing but his favorite shirt, hair in a bun, and boxers, writing into her song notebook, tears slowly and gently caressing her flushed cheeks with their sad, watery embrace.

He tapped on her window. She turned. She opened the window. He climbed in. They just looked at each other, with so many bubbling emotions in their eyes. She dropped the notebook.. And he just grabbed her. Holding her, his chin on her head, her cheek on his chest. He stoked her hair, occasionally kissing her forehead, she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, tightly shutting her eyes, letting all the emotions overwhelm her and with that long, lasting embrace, the apologizes flowed out of them without words. And that night, before they fell asleep together on the floor, they wrote Last 1 Standing.

Zander took a noisy bite of his apple, resurfacing from the emotion-filled memory. He never wanted to see her cry again, but he knew she would. And he promised her he'd be there. They both did.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, ready to call her to _hurry the hell up_ because his system was set on ice cream, then saw two pretty girls emerge from the bathroom. One was in a red and white polka-dot dress, cream ballet flats with little bows and bells, clutching a black designer purse, her long, flowing Barbie-doll blonde colored hair cascading down her back in very done looking ringlets. Zander couldn't quite tell who the girl was, and he appreciated the tall physique and beautiful hair, but blondes weren't his favorite. He directed his gaze to the shorter, sultry girl with the great body.

She was in sexy skinny jeans that showed off her hourglass figure, a gray tank top that strained over her generous curves and accentuated her tiny waist, messy curls covered her face but Zander noticed she boasted a flannel that looked strangely like his. He checked out the girl's sexy figure once again and wondered if he had time to hit on this girl before Stevie came. He craned his neck to see their faces and when he did, almost choked on his apple.

Stevie held out a tissue to Grace who was wiping tears away from her made-up eyes. She accepted it, checked her bedazzled watch, from the look of her lips looked like she thanked Stevie, and pulled her into a hug. Zander watched in disbelief as Stevie returned the hug and even kissed the Perf's cheek before she skipped away. Stevie was left, smiling in her direction, before she turned to Zander. He quickly turned away and pretended to play his uke.

"I know you were watching us!" she yelled out. Zander winced and turned to her with a sheepish smile. She merely smirked at him, her hands on her curvy hips. "I'll explain it all to you at the ice cream place," she grabbed his ukulele case and adjusted her bag on her shoulder. "Let us adventure, Alexander!" She laughed and started to walk towards the gate not waiting up for him.

Zander walked a few paces behind her for a second, trying to sort out in his mind what just happened. Stevie comforting Grace? Grace?! Stevie was a closet softy, but what was going on? He also couldn't help but notice how her figure, as it was right before him, was just as voluptuous and sexy as it was from afar, if not more so, and how his heart had jumped when he saw it was actually her. Stevie turned her head around to see him causing her curls to fly into her lovely face, laughed, and just continued walking. Zander chuckled and sped up to her and nudged her with his shoulder.

They were childhood friends. But with what he was feeling, Zander knew they were past the point of brother and sister, at least to him.

Alex knew Reyrey more than anyone. But with this fluttering in his heart, and new information he just saw, he knew know he would never really know everything about this mysterious, compassionate, sexy bass player.


	7. What Z and G Have in Common

"So, lemme get this straight... You're a closet Perf?"

Stevie glared at Zander from across his Uncle Spencer's favorite LA ice cream shop. After Aunt Carly moved back from Italy with her brand new Italian boyfriend (soon to be fiance), she begged Spencer to move down too. With Freddy working in LA for one of the top graphics and computer analysis companies, Sam in college to be a psychologist, Gibby opening up the restaurant he always wanted, and with the great art scene LA has, it's where the group ended up.

"I'm not a Perf," Stevie said dunking a finger into her chocolate/vanilla mix. "You saw how badly I got sucked in last time."

"Yeah," Zander choked out, clearing his throat a little. He remembered how long it took them for her to get the girly lingo, how stunned he was when he saw her made over, in the short, polka-dotted dress, and that feeling he had when he thought they lost her. He also remembered how badly he wanted to ask her to the dance, but couldn't because she had to keep up her "Perf" appearance and ended up wearing that God-forsaken dress.

"Well, after I helped Grace that night, we just ended up staying friends," she admitted. She popped a chocolate chip into her mouth and continued talking without chewing. "She's kind of like the little sister I never had. Why do you think she helped us out when you were tripping on berries during that awful camping trip? I tutor her, talk her through the many fights she has with Molly, and listen to her after she has daydream after daydream about Nelson."

"Nelson?!" Zander exclaimed, nearly knocking over his chunkymonkey cone. He shook his head in confusion, "why doesn't she just go on a date with him then? He's practically in love with her!"

Stevie just sighed and pulled her knees up to her chest. "I told her I wouldn't help her with that. Nelly's way too important to me for her to just lead him on. She has to overcome her fear of losing Molly and her popularity for him. She was SO close to telling Molly when we all had to wear uniforms that week, but then she got cold feet on the last day."

Zander looked at her, and she looked up at him. "She needs to do this on her own. She'll do it when she's ready." Stevie smiled at him and stood up. "Walk me home?" she asked him, and he nodded, still trying to take in the information.

They gathered their things and walked out, towards their apartments. Their parents said they all loved living in penthouses instead of homes and they never really knew why, but it sure was convenient.

She walked into her building and pressed the elevator button when her phone rang. She pulled the cell out of her pocket and said, "Oh, it's Aunt Carly!" and put the phone to her ear.

Zander never got why his mom always called her instead of him but guessed it was because they're usually together. "Yeah, I'll let him know!" Stevie giggled into her phone. "Love you too Aunt Carls."

"What?"

"Guess what we're all eating tonight at my place!"

"No."

"Yes!"

"Uncle Spencer's making spaghetti tacos?!"

"Yup! And the whole group's upstairs!"

Just in time, the elevator bell dinged, and the doors opened. They high-fived and piled in pressing the PH button as fast as they could. Just before they closed Stevie whispered, "Grace and Nelly will be fine. She's not going to leave him hanging. I know she'll make her move soon, she likes him enough."

Zander, watching the usually snarky, sarcastic girl bounce up and down on her toes in excitement for the family get together, wondered what else him and Grace had in common.


	8. Pride and Popularity

Next day at school, Stevie proudly wore one of Uncle Gibby's Hawaiian shirts over a tight, black tanktop with skinny jeans and a pair of Socko's light up socks tucked into her Dock Marten's that Spencer had given her the night before. The family, the food, and the football game they'd played in the park (Aunt Carly and Zander's little sister, Melanie, just cheerleaded on the sidelines) put her in a terrific mood, until she saw Kacey fuming, waiting for her by the G5 table in the courtyard.

"I thought we were going shopping!" she nearly yelled. Stevie knew exactly how to handle Kacey when she was like this. She put her bag down, pulled out her wallet, and showed her the wad of cash her Dad gave her that morning when she explained the situation. Kacey's eye lit up.

"We'll go today," Steve explained calmly. "We'll even skip 7th period mkay?" Kacey pulled her into a very enthusiastic hug. "Awesome! We've got to hit every store!" She released her friend, then presumed to babbled on and on about shoes and colors and whatnot.

A thought popped into Stevie's head. "Wait, what'd you do yesterday-"

"When you blew me off?" Kacey interrupted, her eyes narrowing. Stevie mouthed 'sorry' and her cheeks went a little pink. "Well," Kacey started very dramatically, "I was at the mall, waiting, then I saw Kevin just chilling by the fountain so I asked him if he wanted to go eat at that vegan place, so we went and then I decided to just go home and-"

"VEGAN?" Stevie asked her eyebrows going up. "You got Kevin to eat VEGAN? C'mon Kace, look at what's happening here! You decided to eat with Kevin instead of going shopping AND he ate vegan for you? You may be super oblivious, but you're not stupid."

Kacey's dark cheeks went red and her hands started to fidget with her bracelets. "I mean, we're friends, and there's Dean, and I mean he's _Kevin, _like a baby brother, and-"

"No." Stevie stated succinctly. "You're starting to realize how great you guys are. You're frilly, overly dramatic, and appearance obsessed. He's silly, makes you laugh, but knows what's a not big deal, and what's important. You're opposites. But the thing that makes you so great is that you both have big hearts." Stevie grabbed Kacey's hands and looked straight into her eyes.

"You like him. Please don't let your pride get in the way, because then you'll both be miserable."

Kacey looked at her for a second then they dropped their hands. "I... I don't know. Everything I thought I felt for Zander when I first was in Gravity 5 just melted away and... I guess Kevin just kinda absorbed it all."

Stevie cringed at the Zander part. What would Gravity be if the two most self-obsessed people were running the band? Awful. I'd be awful. Plus they were just a bad pair.

The bell rang, pulling Stevie out of her thoughts. The girls grabbed their things and cleared their throats. "I have chem," Stevie told her as she walked towards the hallway, "I can't miss because I-"

"Please?" Kacey stopped walking and asked her earnestly. "I have Algebra with Kev and I need time to think, and you're the best one to straighten out my thoughts."

Stevie smiled and threw an arm around her shoulder. "Yeah. Yeah I'll go. Let's grab coffee and then head to the band room, mkay?"

Kacey smiled, shrugged off Stevie's arm, then linked her's around her friend's. "Your parents should be proud they raised you."

Stevie giggled and rolled her eyes at the super cheesy comment, thinking of what great parents her's were. The girls strolled off campus to the coffee shop, with Stevie wondering if they really were proud of their little girl.


	9. Not Everything is Black and White

Stevie laid the dress down on her bed that she bought with Kacey that night at the mall. The excursion took four hours because Kacey couldn't choose between six different dresses and frankly, shopping wasn't Stevie's forte. The band had decided on their usual black, white, and red theme for the dance with... what did Kacey say? Oh, a "touch of purple."

Kacey ended up with a tight, cream dress covered in tiny, icy colored sequins which made her resemble a snowflake in Stevie's eyes. Stevie had picked out shoes for her friend, as to make sure she didn't overdose on the sparkles. The high-heeled, dark purple, suede shoes with the black satin bow were tasteful, went with the color scheme, and was just edgy to make sure she didn't look like a Perf. Just what Stevie was going for in her choice.

Stevie's ensemble was an entirely different story. After begging and begging and begging Kacey to let her just borrow her Aunt Melanie's or Aunt Carly's old dresses, she finally just gave in to her friend's whims. The deep, scarlet red Marilyn Monroe-esque dress with the halter-tied top, open back, and full skirt was just Stevie enough for her taste, but feminine enough for Kacey to allow it. After Stevie's request for her terminator black tie up boots were vetoed, Kacey showed up with black satin, 50's style dancing shoes that were't too high, and didn't scream 'I payed way too much for these!'.

Stevie's phoned beeped with a text and she realized she had three unread. She checked them one by one:

**Kevin Reed:** Steevs, should I wear my red tie with my white shirt and black pants, or my black tie? Plus, can I borrow one of your brother's black socks? I lost all mine. thx

**Nelson Baxter: **S, vest or no vest? Should I wear my bowtie? You think Grace'll b the dance, right?

**Zander Robbins:** What color is your dress, so I know what NOT to wear. PS turn around.

Stevie smiled at the last one and turned around. Zander was perched outside her window with a shopping bag in his hands. He tapped on the glass impatiently as she quickly stuffed the dress in the bag before he could see it, then walked across her room and opened the hatch.

"It's getting chilly out there, baby," he stated, climbing in her window.

"What's in the bag?" she asked skeptically, trying to peer in. "Wait!" he stopped her. "Let me see this super girly dress Kace has been tweeting nonstop about!"

"No." she said firmly. "You get color only. If you see it, you'll make fun of me, and then I'll just not want to go."

He rolled his eyes then flopped onto her floor. He dumped the contents of the bag onto her carpet to reveal four different colored ties, one white, one black button up dress shirt, and a folded not with the initials CR on them. "This is from my mom," he said handing her the note.

She smiled, grabbed the thick paper and read.

_Little S,  
I know you have your big gig at the dance tomorrow and if you want my help with hair and makeup, I'd love to. I'll be at your place tomorrow at 5.  
Xoxo Aunt Carly_

Stevie loved little reminders like this that Carly, Spencer, and Gibby were family. She folded the note, put it in her pocket, and sat down on the floor next to Zander.

He held up a white, purple, black, and red tie. "Which one?" he asked. Knowing he'd want to match her, she picked up the black shirt, and the red tie that was a perfect color match to her dress. "Wear this with this one over it. Half-windsor knot on your tie, little lose top button popped. Wear your black felt fedora, too. The one my dad gave you for Christmas."

"Trying to make me look like Frank Sinatra, are we?"

"May be fitting, since I'm wearing a Monroe dress."

"Seriously? That's hilarious! Stevie Baskara dressed up like Marilyn for a school dance."

Stevie started laughing and pushed Zander. "Get outta my life!" she laugh and they both fell on their sides laughing hysterically, just happy to be together. Stevie looked up, her face directly in front of Zanders, inches away from him.

They stopped laughing, and she breathed in his scent which she had grown so accustomed to. Zander's deep brown eyes flashed as he put his hand on the back of her neck, gently grabbing her curls. Stevie's eyebrows crinkled, wanting to say something, but something about his expression hindered her. Paralyzed her. Her lips parted almost as if they we asking for an explaination.

His other hand made its way from her waist, to her face, delicately holding her chin up, inching their faces even closer. He never took his eyes off her as he pulled her closer and his face tilted every so slightly. The room was electric, and they could feel the current. In a surrender of the heat filled moment, she closed her eyes.

They both jumped when the door suddenly swung open.


	10. Lead By Example

"Mom!" Stevie exclaimed, jumping to her feet but tripping on one of the various ties on the floor and falling over again. The three of them laughed again. "We're watching a movie if you wanna to join us. You too, Z."

"Thanks Aunt Sam," Zander started to get up off the floor and help Stevie up as well. Sam pulled Zander into a headlock and mussed up his hair while he yelled "Not the hair! Ah, not the face either! This is abuse!" as Stevie laughed. Zander ran to the other end of the loft to talk to her dad. Sam looked at Stevie. "Give Momma a hug, Steevs." Stevie smiled and wrapped her arms around her mother's still tiny waist and breathed in the smell of her blonde, curly hair.

Sam smoothed her daughter's hair soothingly with her hand. "He loves you baby girl."

"Of course he loves me, we're basically brother and sister."

"No sweetie, he's IN love with you."

Stevie removed herself from her mother's embrace to give her a long, hard look. "No. He's a hit it and quit it guy. Plus I don't even think of him like that and-"

"Remember when your father says he didn't know he loved me until the moment I kissed him at the school's lock in?" Sam stated, gently punching her daughter.

"Yeah... but-"

"He's me in this situation. You're your father," Sam stroked her face. "And wow was I, well am I, so in love with your Father. You're every best part of him. Smart, kind, beautiful, but you're also very oblivious about who you're in love with."

Stevie just looked down at her hands and listened to two of her favorite guys in the world talk, their voices melding together in a beautiful tenor and baritone harmony.

She shoved her mother aside saying, "I think you ate bad bacon or something," and ran to the couch and pushed her dad off. He fell to the floor with a thud, and remarked, "That was assault!" which made his wife laugh for a reason the teens didn't know why.

The two couples, however apart the connotation of the word was while describing the pairs, cuddled on the couch. Freddy put his arm around his best friend, biggest enemy, and love of his life and she pulled her knees up, putting her head on his shoulder.

Stevie and Zander took a more friendly route, him putting his legs on the coffee table, and her putting her head on his lap stretch across the entire couch. With the four brothers at an early weekend getaway the foursome watched old movies eating their body weight in snacks, and talking throughout the movie.

Stevie looked at the gaze her father was directing at her mother, and saw nothing but pure love shining through it. She decided she wasn't going to say 'I love you' to anybody until she was being looked at like that. Lead by example Freddy Benson.


End file.
